The effect of an electronic checklist on the quality of patient handoff process from the operating room to intensive care unit 

Introduction: Handoffs is one of the main processes in health care providers. Paper checklists are commonly used to handoff from operating room to intensive care units. However, paper checklists do not guarantee accurate and complete exchange of information during handoff. The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of electronic handoff tool on improve quality of transfer of care from OR to ICU. Methods: : The research community of this interventional quasi experimetal study included all situations of patient handoff from the OR to ICU of Golestan Hospital, Ahvaz. Handoff situation were randomly distributed in two control and intervention groups. The participants completed the checklists related to 84 transfer situations of patient care from the operating room to the ICU, including 42 handoff situations using electronic checklists as an intervention and 42 handoff situations using conventional paper checklists as a control group. Quality of care handoff was assessed using the Handoover Evaluation Scale (HES). Data analysis was performed using SPSS software version 22. Results: : HES score in paper checklist group was 35.38 ± 3.66, in electronic checklist group was 38.10 ± 3.61. Handoff scores in the two dimensions of quality of information and efficiency in the group using the electronic checklist were statistically significantly higher than the paper checklist group (P= 0.004). Conclusion: It seams implementation and adherence of electronic handoff tool, developmented in this study, dramatically increased the quality of patient handoff process from OR to ICU.